MLB Player News

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is in Friday's lineup against the Mariners, batting fourth as the designated hitter. Cespedes hasn't played since coming out of Tuesday's game with a hamstring injury.

Cespedes has hit .240/.307/.490 with 13 home runs and 35 RBI in 204 at-bats this season.

Nationals manager Davey Johnson told The Washington Post Friday that outfielder Bryce Harper is still resting his knee and will likely be re-evaluated at the start of the week in Philadelphia.

Barring any setbacks, Harper is expected to start his minor-league rehab assignment and return in just over a week. Harper has been sidelined since May 26 with a knee injury. He hit .287/.386/.587 with 12 homers and 23 RBI in 44 games.

Though his week-to-week point production doesn't exactly stand out during that stretch, the Giants' Brandon Belt has been more or less what everyone hoped he would be over his last 46 games, batting .280 (40 for 143) with seven homers, 11 doubles and 17 walks. Translated over a full season, those numbers work out to about 25 homers, 35 doubles and 60 walks, with an OPS approaching .900.

So why does he rank only 21st among first basemen in standard Head-to-Head leagues during that stretch? Well, for one thing, it's a tough position to crack, but the bigger issue is he has 30-40 fewer plate appearances than most of the players ahead of him.

Over that span, Belt has averaged 0.76 points per plate appearance, the same as Joey Votto. Meanwhile, Prince Fielder has averaged 0.69 points per plate appearances and Albert Pujols 0.65.

For much of that stretch, Belt was sitting every fifth day in favor of Brett Pill. But Pill is in the minors now, and Belt has now started eight straight games. I'm thinking he'll rank a bit higher over his next 46 and deserves some love on the waiver wire.

Hours after his manager called him the best second baseman in baseball, Matt Carpenter got two more hits for the Cardinals in a 2-1 win over the Mets Thursday.

Carpenter had a triple and a single with an RBI. He's raised his average to .327.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny called Matt Carpenter the best second baseman in baseball Thursday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

Matheny called Carpenter a "difference-maker" before saying, "he's established himself as the best second baseman in the league." He also gave extra credit to Carpenter for switching positions. Carpenter is hitting .324/.410/.470. 

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes will be held out of Thursday's game with a hamstring injury. Cespedes did not play Wednesday.

He'll join Coco Crisp on the bench as the A's go against Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Cespedes has hit .240/.307/.490 in 204 at-bats. 

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 5 with three RBI and two runs in his team's 12-8 win over the Giants Wednesday. It was the third straight multi-hit performance for McCutchen, who is 7 for 11 over his last three games to bring his batting average to .297.

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (hamstring), who was unable to play Wednesday against the Yankees, took batting practice before the game, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. 

Manager Bob Melvin said the injury "doesn't seem to be too substantial." That said, the A's will not take any risks with him. He is day to day. 

Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes was unable to play Wednesday against the Yankees and is unlikely to play Thursday as well, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Cespedes, who was forced out of Tuesday's game with a hamstring injury, is considered day to day. 

Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit his fourth home run of the season, a game-winning two-run shot Tuesday against Milwaukee.

The home run was Stanton's fourth of the season and first since returning from the disabled list Monday. Stanton got off to a slow start in April last year as well -- just one home run in his first 21 games -- so he could still make a run at some big power numbers. Stanton hit 23 home runs in 63 games from June 12 through the end of the season last year.